Soda alternative

I’m not about to cut chocolate out of my diet, but it would be nice to reduce calory intake somehow. A while back I decided to give up drinking sodas. I haven’t succeeded 100%, but I have gotten pretty good over time. I used to consume a can of Coke several times a week with an occasional Sprite thrown in there as well. Now I only have such a drink once or twice a month.

When I first mentioned this to a friend, he said this should add up to considerable weight loss. I found that interesting and intriguins since it’s not a particularly painful way to keep extra pounds off. This week’s Time magazine Numbers feature has some concrete information about this:

    15 Number of pounds that a person would gain annually by drinking an extra can of sugar-laden soda each day

I certainly have not lost 15 pounds by not drinking soda, but I wasn’t drinking it daily and I haven’t cut it out 100%. Still, it’s a helpful figure to contemplate.

I have gotten better about drinking water, but I have also discovered a nice alternative. (And I’m hopeful no one on this blog will point out to me the downsides of said alternative, but go ahead, enlighten me.) To add a bit of taste to my beverage, I add a tiny bit of lemon juice to the water. No sugar or anything else, just a bit of lemon juice. It works well, I recommend it.

3 Responses to “Soda alternative”

  1. Steph Says:

    I cant imagine that anyone will come up witha downside. and if they do don’t listen to them!

    what about diet soda? or is there something about soda in general that you’re trying to eliminate?

  2. eszter Says:

    Good point about diet soda. I don’t consider it an option, because I dislike the taste of sweeteners so much. I always have and I continue to do so. My dislike (obviously a polite euphemism) can easily withstand a blind taste test. On occasion I’ll buy a drink (or some food product) without checking the label and can tell immediately if it has artificial sweeteners. I really don’t like them so that’s not an option.

    More generally speaking, I suspect it’s good for one’s teeth to forego sodas altogether.

  3. jb Says:

    hot water with lemon rocks